Chair back



July 16, 1929.

F. KUSTERLE CHAIR BACK Filed March 21 l l .lll ||||1|||||||| 'Al Y|||| l l Patented July 16, 1929.

UNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK KUSTERLE, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO SIMMONS COMPANY, OF KENOSI'IA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

CHAIR BACK.

Application filed March 21, 1925.

My invention relates to improvements in chair backs and, although capable of general application, is particularly adapted for use in connection with furniture manufactured from metal tubing.

The principal objects of my invention are to provide a removable panel which may be easily assembled or removed from a supporting or border frame in the eventI of dam age or deterioration due to wear or other' causes; to provide a construction especially suited for double-faced cane panels; to provide a construction which is simple and econoinical to manufacture, while being neat -in appearance and rigid in construction and,

in general, to provide an improved chair back or panel of the character referred to.

In the drawings accompanying this application, which drawings illustrate a selected embodiment of my invention as applied to a chair back,

Fig. 1 is a frontelevation of a chaii back.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlargement of a portion of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in the present instance, the panel element comprises t-wo flexible sheets 7 7 woven from narrow strips of cane, rattan or other flexible fibrous material in the usual manner. The outer margins of said sheets are folded, as indicated in Fig. 4:, over the two edges of 9 9 of the frame enclosure 10, said enclosure having in cross section the shape of the letter U so as to form an outwardly facing groove 11 for receiving the filler or wedge 12 which serves to hold the cane or other filling material in place; said filler or wedge comprising a somewhat elastic or flexible material such as soft spruce wood inserted into said groove 11, after the outer margins of sheet 7 7 have been folded over the flanges 9 9 of the channel.

Part of the bottom wall of the top portion of the tubular material chair frame 13 is cut out to provide an aperture or slot eX- tended between the two upright-s 13a-13a and wide enough to accommodate the upper portions of the removable panel 14. This feature of my invention is of considerable importance as it provides a means by which the unbroken appearance of the panels can serial No. 17,355.

be preserved without forming the upper porion of the channel-shaped supporting frame to conform wit-h the inside edge of the chair frame 13. This is of particular value when an irregular design is desired for the piece of furniture in which the panel is to be used.

In the specific embodiment herein described, the means for holding and securing the bottom edge of the panel element 14 preferably consists of a channel-shaped metal rail 15 having a dependent fiange 15, said rail extends between the two uprights 13 13- and is held in position at each end by a round head machine screw 16 passing through an aperture in each of the lugs 19 19, said lugs being rounded continuations of the metal rail 15 bent down at right angles to the web of the channel. The machine screws enter apertures in the adjacent walls of the chair uprights 13- 13a, the ends being threaded into nut members comprising strip members 18 18 previously inserted into the uprights. The nut members 18-18 are located at the desired height by bending down lugs 22 which rest on the top wall of the metal stretcher 6, the ends of said stretcher being inserted into apertures in the uprights 13 13L and inconspicuously welded or brazed at the points of intersection 4 and 5. i

In order to secure the panel against rattling and to prevent any upward or outward displacement from the metal rest 15 which might occur, two round head wood screws 2O are inserted through apertures in the web of the rail and threaded into the wood filler or wedge 12.

I claim as my invention:

In furniture construction, the combination of a frame including a pair of tubular side rails, a yoke connecting the upper ends of said side rails and provided with a recess facing inwardly of the frame, a cross piece spaced from said yoke, extending between said side rails, and having its opposite end portionscxtending through the inner walls of the adjacent side rail and into the interior of the latter, a panel disposed between said side rails and having its upper edge portion seated in the recess in said yoke, a retaining member disposed adjacent the lower end of the panel and having a seat receiving such lower end, thereby .to hold said panel in place, and means for releasably Lezer/94 and resting,r on said inwardly extending cross-piece ends, and screw members threadedly engaging said nut members and engaging adjacent end portions of said retaining member.

FRANKy KUSTERLE. 

